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Council approves financial break for developers

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Contributed by: Joseph Kirchmer/YourHub.com on 7/1/2008

Parker council members recently approved the temporary reduction of a developer's fee in hopes of breathing life into the town's dwindling housing market.

The measure - Resolution No. 08-051 - was approved by a 4-1 margin at a June 16 town council meeting. Councilwoman Tracy Hutchins voted against the resolution.

The resolution will allow for a 50 percent rebate on the town's so-called deficit reduction fee on all new homes built in the next year. At the end of the year, council will evaluate whether the measure had a positive impact on the housing market.

The deficit reduction fee was approved by council in 1998 as a way to help offset the cost of growth. At the time, the cost of providing municipal services to new developments often exceeded the revenues that were generated. The fee has generated more than $5 million, according to town staff.

"The town wanted growth to pay its own way," said town council member and real estate agent Debbie Lewis. "At that time, developers were fighting to build in Parker. That's not the case now."

Parker's housing market, once considered one of the strongest in the state, has been declining steadily for the past three years. The number of single-family residential housing permits issued in the town went from 1,082 in 2005 to only 232 in 2007, according to the town's finance director Mike Farina.

The town currently is on pace to issue approximately 170 permits this year. Council members hope the measure will provide an incentive to build in Parker instead of locating outside of town limits.

"This is just one little arrow in our quiver that we are trying out to help stimulate the economy in Parker," Lewis said. "Housing is such a huge component of our income and when you take that away, it really diminishes our ability to provide good services to our citizens."

The reduction in the fee also is intended to help existing developers in town. The measure came largely at the request of two of the more prominent developers in town, including representatives from Village Homes and Black Creek Development.

"Hopefully this is going to help them as we move forward in this difficult time in our economy," said Parker mayor David Casiano. "Everybody is trying to pull together and get through this."

Hutchins, however, disagrees. She said the measure is unfair to the other developers who have paid for the fee in years past.

"When the town of Parker is considering asking its citizens for a property tax increase to fund a new public safety center or cultural facility and giving developers a break on their fees, I have a problem with the decision," she said. "I can't give them (developers) a financial break and turn around and ask citizens to kick in more. I don't think it is right. That is why I voted no. I don't believe it is right and I voted no."

AT A GLANCE

Number of single-family residential housing permits issued in the Town of Parker since 2003.

2003 - 530
2004 - 567
2005 - 1,082
2006 - 590
2007 - 232

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